


Trust Issues

by Unclesteeb



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Holding Hands, Hurt!Sam, M/M, Pre-Slash, Protective!Bucky, cw spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-06-10 18:39:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6969601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unclesteeb/pseuds/Unclesteeb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t that Bucky disliked Sam, but literally pulling a guy out of the sky and later using his face as a handle when he was brainwashed created some trust issues between the two of them.</p><p>Or: the one where everything worked out perfectly post-cw and Bucky and Sam learn that maybe they've trusted each other all along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust Issues

**Author's Note:**

> This comes from a tumblr prompt: either Bucky or Sam getting injured during a mission and the other dragging them into safety and waiting for help.
> 
> I took some liberties with the post-cw world because... *shrugs*

“Wilson, what’s your status?”  
Bucky was crouched behind a door in an   
underground Hydra bunker. The plan was simple. The Intel they had received that morning told them that this base had been vacated decades ago. Bucky was going to head in, make sure the base was clear and then detonate a bomb to make sure that any information (especially information about himself) or weapons were irretrievable. Sam had his six from above, and would provide him with a quick exit when the job was done.  
  
Simple. Until it wasn’t.  
  
Bucky thought he really should have known better than to use his thumbprint to enter the base. He knew that The Winter Soldier’s ID hadn’t been flagged from every hydra base yet, and figured that an abandoned base had to still have his ID as fully functional. He was wrong.  
  
He entered the building smoothly, it was in fact empty. He made his way to the basement to set up the charge when he heard the alarms. Within seconds, a dozen hydra agents were upon him. He took them out two by two. They must have been new recruits, because they were completely unaware of The Winter Soldier’s strength. He overpowered them easily and set the charge in the right spot. He fled to the exit and was ready to go; but where was Sam?  
“Wilson, do you copy?”  
  
The only thing on the other end of the line was static.  
  
“Fuck.”  
  
Bucky stood up. Since joining the fight against hydra Bucky had worked hard to relearn how to work in a team. 70 years spent as a ghostly assassin didn’t really lend itself to “team playing”. For the first few missions he was constantly aware of everything he did in a new way. He had to ask himself, “Am I putting my allies at risk? Is this a good move for everyone else too?” He re-taught himself how to communicate with others on comms and reminded himself to constantly watch out for the other members in the squad.  
It was then, and only then that he had been pulled into Fury’s office.  
“Barnes. You’re doing well. We are happy with what you’re doing here. So we’ve decided to team you up with Wilson for a special assignment.”  
  
It wasn’t that Bucky disliked Sam, but literally pulling a guy out of the sky and later using his face as a handle when he was brainwashed created some trust issues between the two of them.  
  
His trigger words had been decommissioned quickly after what was left of SHIELD had learned about Zemo and his plan. Bucky, Sam and Steve and the rest of the accords-opposing avengers were all placed under Fury’s protection, under the agreement that they would help him. Bucky was all for using what he had learned for good, especially hydra destroying good, but working on a team with Sam Wilson was taking it one step too far.  
  
“Wilson? Are you serious?”  
  
“Barnes quit your whining. You two match well. You both have the skill set to take down hydra quietly.” He glared at Bucky from behind his desk.  
  
“You know he can’t stand me. How do you suppose we work together like that?”  
  
The Asset of Hydra crossed his arms. He wasn’t whining. He wasn’t.  
  
Fury smirked “Well I suggest you go buy him some flowers and play nice. Have a good day, Sergeant Barnes.” He turned around in his office chair, promptly dismissing Bucky.  
  
Their first mission hadn’t gone wrong, but if Sam had eaten Bucky’s MRE and Bucky had “accidentally” dumped out Sam’s water canteen, well it hadn’t gone right either.  
  
And now THIS.  
  
Bucky slinked against the wall of the hallway towards the exit. He couldn’t deploy the charge until he made sure Wilson was safe, and since the bird brain wasn’t answering on his comms, he would have to go and try and find him first.  
When he exited the base, he didn’t like what he saw.  
  
Sam had taken down the first three hydra agents that had spotted him in the sky. The fourth however, seemed to have his number.  
  
Bucky lifted his rifle and peered through the scope at the hostile. They were pretty far away from the entrance of the base at this point. The hostile was wearing some kind of armor, and was shooting some kind of lasers out of the barrel of his gun.  
  
Bucky slowed his breathing, prepared to take the shot-  
And watched as Sam was hit and fell from the sky.  
  
“Sam!” Bucky yelled, racing towards the two men. He drew closer quickly, but he knew couldn’t make it to Sam in time to catch him. The hydra agent barely had the time to turn and face him before Bucky threw a knife in his direction, hitting him square in the base of his unprotected neck.  
  
The Winter Soldier didn’t fear for his cohorts’ safety, but Bucky Barnes did. He was surprised at the apprehension he felt while approaching Sam’s collapsed frame.  
  
“Sam!”  
  
He cupped Sam’s face in his hands and watched to see if the other man would take a breath. He did. Bucky breathed a sigh of relief. Sam was truly lucky he was relatively low to the ground when he was hit. Bucky assessed the rest of Sam’s body. The shot had taken out his left wing, blowing a hole straight through it. He hissed as he caught sight of Sam’s right ankle. It was definitely broken. He must have tried to land on his feet. Fuck. They were going to need an evacuation and fast.  
  
Bucky flipped open his cell phone and dialed.  
“Rogers.”  
“Steve, we need an evac. Sam’s down. Broke his ankle. We had shitty intel, this base was NOT abandoned.”  
Steve swore loudly then said “I’ll alert fury and Hill. Stay where you are. We’re coming Buck.”  
Bucky heard the sounds of distant gunfire approaching.  
“Steve, not an option. There’s more. They’re still here. I’m going to get us to safety. Call when you’re close.”  
  
Bucky promptly disconnected the call. There was only one way to move Sam right now, Sam was going to LOVE IT when he woke up.  
Bucky hoisted Sam over his shoulder and continued out of the open field into the tree line. He scouted for a good hiding spot and tried not to jostle Sam too much in the process. He spotted a large pile of rocks about 100 yards east. Perfect.  
  
The rock formation was indeed perfect. There was a cutout just big enough for the two of them to fit if they squeezed. Bucky crawled the two of them into the cutout, set Sam gingerly onto the ground and set Sam’s broken ankle on his knee. A broken ankle wasn’t anything deadly, but proper elevation would be helpful. He readied his rifle, and waited.  
_________  
Sam gains consciousness slowly, then all at once.  
  
“What the hell? Oh fuck that hurts.”  
He tries sitting up but Bucky stops him by sticking out his metal arm.  
“You need to stay down. You had a pretty nasty fall out there.”  
  
Sam blinks up at him “Did you detonate the base?”  
“No, didn’t get a chance to before you were blown out of the sky. Now I’m too far out of range and they’ve got the place swarmed. Can’t get any closer without risking our cover.”  
  
Sam sighs a little. He still looks drowsy. He’s lost a bit of blood from the break in his ankle. Bucky thinks of internal bleeding and tries not to worry.  
  
“Did you at least call for backup?”  
Bucky glares at him and hisses out a “Yes”.  
  
He wants to scoot as far away from Sam as possible but can’t without jostling Sam’s ankle that’s propped up on his legs.He stays put.  
  
“If you can, get more rest. I don’t know how long they’re going to be, and we might need to find new cover before nightfall.”  
  
Sam nods and closes his eyes again.  
  
Bucky studies him then. Sam has long dark eyelashes that leave shadows under his eyes. His nose rounds at the tip. He has a five o'clock shadow from where he didn’t take the time so shave this morning.  
  
Sam’s breaths are evening out now. Bucky figures he’s losing consciousness rather than falling asleep. He puts himself in Sam’s shoes then, and tries to imagine allowing himself to fade out like that with someone like himself watching his back. He isn’t sure if he could. Maybe Sam trusts him more than he lets on. His heart feels heavy.  
  
He gingerly reaches out to touch Sam’s arm comfortingly. Sam’s skin is clammy but feels good under his fingertips.  
  
Bucky’s cellphone vibrates in his pocket. When he answers, Hill’s voice greets him.  
“Barnes, I need your location. We’re five minutes out.”  
  
———–  
After spilling out the events of yesterday’s unfortunate mission, Bucky finds himself heading back to his room to get a shower and some rest.  
  
Washing off the dirt and grime comes easily, the rest- not so much.  
  
Bucky’s lying on top of his comforter with his hand folded behind his head. His mind is unsettled.  Steve had called him to let him know that Sam was just fine. He had needed surgery to truly repair his ankle, but he was safe and resting in the med bay now.  Bucky closes his eyes and breathes out through his nose. He thinks back to earlier in the day, when Sam had trusted him enough to let himself sleep with just Bucky and a rifle protecting him.  He thinks about Sam, how even when they hadn’t spoken two words to each other, Sam was there protecting him, even fighting his friends for Bucky’s safety. He wants Sam to trust him. He’s wanted Sam to trust him for a long time now. He wants Sam to feel safe and happy all the time. He really, really cares about Sam. The realization doesn’t shake him, but the sudden need to see Sam does.  Bucky rolls over to his side.  
  
It’s going to be a long night.  
  
He finds Sam’s room easy enough. When he peeks his head through the door, Sam’s fast asleep, his ankle elevated and in traction. He takes a seat next to Sam’s bedside and drinks in the sight of him.  
He’s definitely easy on the eyes, that’s for sure, and he looks a hell of a lot better than he did yesterday.  
  
Sam awakes with a start, gasping.  
“Hey, hey” Bucky offers, “It’s me, Bucky. You’re safe. In the hospital.” He’s leaning over Sam a little. Sam meets his eyes, looking frantic for a minute before he settles himself down again.  
“Sorry, I-I” he drifts off mid sentence. Bucky notices his hands are shaking.  
  
“It’s okay.” Suddenly Bucky’s overwhelmed with the need to get closer to him, to shelter him like he did the day before. Sam doesn’t deserve to feel this vulnerable without someone at his side. “Can I- can I sit?” He gestures towards the bed.  
Sam nods.  
  
Bucky sits himself down next to Sam in the bed gently, their shoulders pressing together slightly. Sam leans into the contact a little.  
  
“You know, I was Pararescue.” Sam takes a shaky breath but continues. “I watched my partner get shot down from the sky. I left shortly after that. Vowed to stay out after that. I missed it all, but couldn’t stand the thought of losing anybody else, or losing myself again like I did after losing Riley.”  
  
Bucky leans into Sam a little more, feeling the raw emotion of what Sam was telling him.  
  
“Then I met Steve,” he chucked dryly, “and you know how that turned out.”  
  
Bucky grimaces “I’m sorry. Sam, from the bottom of my-”  
  
Sam nudges his shoulder a bit “Hey. I would say no hard feelings, but that would be a lie.” He looks over at Bucky and grins a little. “But really, that’s not what I’m getting at. When we were fighting… At the airport. I tried to catch Rhodes. Took me right back overseas.”  
  
Bucky looks at Sam then. He looks so open and earnest that Bucky can’t help but put a hand on his knee.  
“We haven’t had a close call like that for a while now until yesterday. That Intel we got… And you were…” He shakes his head. “Listen what I’m trying to say is that I’m glad you were there yesterday Bucky. I know close calls are part of the job description, but just… Thank you.”  
  
He sets his hand onto Bucky’s and interlocks their fingers together.  
  
Bucky looks at him and smiles.  
“Any time, Bird Brain.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can follow me on tumblr @unclesteeb
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


End file.
